I really enoyed seeing this with the Frightfest crowd. It's a pity they couldn't get some bigger names to interview like Guillermo del Toro, Edgar Wright or any of the big name stars, celebrities and directors who have attended the festival over the years. Adam Green and Joe Lynch are pretty much the best we get. On the plus side, we do get candid interviews with all four Frightfest directors which is the most important thing. Great to hear the history of the festival from them. The most interesting thing is hearing how stressful the 2012 festival got. That and the bizarre revelation about Right Said Fred. I hope that the makers can collect some more interviews when they can to maybe do an updated and improved version in a few years time.

Yes I really enjoyed this one - was good to see behind the scenes and listen to the organisers being interviewed in depth. Yes it would have been great for some of the bigger names to have been interviewed but I guess getting an interview from the likes of Guillermo del Toro these days is going to be really hard to arrange - be great if he was a guest for the 20th Anniversary next year though eh? Was interested to hear about the tension going on in 2012 too - I don’t think I noticed at the time as I’m usually immersed in the movies showing and don’t really notice that kind of stuff. The revelation about Tight Said Fred was totally bizarre - the mind boggles as to how they ever thought that was going to work out. However I’m too sexy for my chainsaw does have a certain ring to it

For those of us who didn't see the doc, dare we ask what was going on in 2012? Looking back at the line-up there were some good films on that year, so presumably it was more of a behind the scenes kind of thing...

For those of us who didn't see the doc, dare we ask what was going on in 2012? Looking back at the line-up there were some good films on that year, so presumably it was more of a behind the scenes kind of thing...

I think the gist of it was, the festival was getting bigger and bigger, and their roles badly organised, to the point they were all doing the same jobs while some things were not getting done at all - like a film print not being ordered (quite important for a film festival! Ian holds his hands up at that one.)

It then degenerates to the point one organiser takes another outside and shouts at him until he loses his voice (I'll let you see the doc to see who they were!)but the one doing the shouting now "can't even remember what it was about"

Thanks for replying - blimey! I know it can get a little fraught at times, but that's quite surprising it got to that point. There must be a huge amount to do and it's always the little, but important things that can get missed. I think in recent years they've added a bit more of a support network around them, which sounds like it was needed and hopefully helps them and the festival work as well as it does.

For those of us who didn't see the doc, dare we ask what was going on in 2012? Looking back at the line-up there were some good films on that year, so presumably it was more of a behind the scenes kind of thing...

I think the gist of it was, the festival was getting bigger and bigger, and their roles badly organised, to the point they were all doing the same jobs while some things were not getting done at all - like a film print not being ordered (quite important for a film festival! Ian holds his hands up at that one.)

It then degenerates to the point one organiser takes another outside and shouts at him until he loses his voice (I'll let you see the doc to see who they were!)but the one doing the shouting now "can't even remember what it was about"

They all seemed ready to call it quits by the end of that year

Wasn’t 2012 the year that had - I think - The critic Kim Newman being heavily critical of the line up of movies so much so that he dubbed it “Rapefest”? This was the year of Seasoning House, Hidden in The Woods etc? This probably didn’t help the behind the scenes tension.

Wasn’t 2012 the year that had - I think - The critic Kim Newman being heavily critical of the line up of movies so much so that he dubbed it “Rapefest”? This was the year of Seasoning House, Hidden in The Woods etc? This probably didn’t help the behind the scenes tension.

Yes. Although the word "rapefest" isn't used, this is certainly brought up.

For those of us who didn't see the doc, dare we ask what was going on in 2012? Looking back at the line-up there were some good films on that year, so presumably it was more of a behind the scenes kind of thing...

I think the gist of it was, the festival was getting bigger and bigger, and their roles badly organised, to the point they were all doing the same jobs while some things were not getting done at all - like a film print not being ordered (quite important for a film festival! Ian holds his hands up at that one.)

It then degenerates to the point one organiser takes another outside and shouts at him until he loses his voice (I'll let you see the doc to see who they were!)but the one doing the shouting now "can't even remember what it was about"

They all seemed ready to call it quits by the end of that year

Wasn’t 2012 the year that had - I think - The critic Kim Newman being heavily critical of the line up of movies so much so that he dubbed it “Rapefest”? This was the year of Seasoning House, Hidden in The Woods etc? This probably didn’t help the behind the scenes tension.

Or was it James Moran who coined "Rapefest"?
(EDIT: I found the original tweet, it was Kim newman replying to James Moran https://mobile.twitter.com/AnnoDracula/ ... 5636980736 )
The documentary does mention the extreme nature of some of the films and there's archive footage of Paul at the closing of that year's Frightfest talking about it, but it isn't gone into in depth. In retrospect that may have less to do with Frightfest itself and more to do with the cyclical nature of the horror scene, where trends become most extreme before they end. 2012 was the tail end of the torture porn cycle.

2012 was also the year of the Tulpa screening, which the documentary has a significant amount about. While that was fun for the audience it must have been embarrassing for the organisers (especially Alan, who championed the film) to have to deal with the cast and crew after that, large numbers of whom had turned up to enjoy their world premiere.

2012 was also the year of the "Turn Off Your Bloody Phone" competition idents, effectively creating dozens of short films which had to be included before each main screening, and including the "Pencil" one that caused even more controversy, and the number of discovery screen films had doubled from the previous year.

Personally Tulpa was one of my all time absolute favourites ... for admittedly all the wrong comedic reasons. I bought the DVD and disappointingly it had been recut ... can’t POSSIBLY think why .... Zampaglione learned a huge lesson that year - don’t bloody rush and try to cram your edit into a couple of days before your world premiere! It must be one hell of a job to organise the festival and I’m surprised they’re not all bald. Seeing many old pics of Alan Jones with a full head of hair in the doc took some getting used to

It was a really interesting documentary, and a great trip down memory lane.

2012 was the first time that I secured a full weekend pass, having attended since 2009, so It was a great year for me, despite whatever madness was going on behind the scenes, they still put on an amazing festival.

2012 was also the year of the Tulpa screening, which the documentary has a significant amount about. While that was fun for the audience it must have been embarrassing for the organisers (especially Alan, who championed the film) to have to deal with the cast and crew after that, large numbers of whom had turned up to enjoy their world premiere.

2012 was also the year of the "Turn Off Your Bloody Phone" competition idents, effectively creating dozens of short films which had to be included before each main screening, and including the "Pencil" one that caused even more controversy, and the number of discovery screen films had doubled from the previous year.

Does it go much into the year-by-year history - the changing venues, additional screens, particular films - or is it mainly recently-shot talking heads saying how great everything is?

Probably 50:50. The different venue changes are all described and form a big part of the film's central narrative. The lineups are gone into less, they only tend to highlight a few films, usually only when they have interviews with, or footage of, the directors. The films I remember being mentioned are Audition, Donnie Darko, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, Hatchet, Wrong Turn 2, The Human Centipede, The Human Centipede 2, Giallo, Hatchet II, A Serbian Film, Monsters, Before Dawn, Inbred, Tulpa and American Mary.

I think there are a lot of important omissions in that list. I would have been interested to hear more analysis of the various lineups and qualities of the different years.

There are the talking heads you fear, though they don't always praise things. Frankly I could have done with a bit less of the ordinary Frightfest punters even though quite a few of them are personal friends. What is important is that there is a lot of Alan, Paul, Ian and Greg.